The Association Between Individual Differences in Motivational Readiness at Entry to Treatment and Treatment Attendance and Outcome in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy: A Systematic Review

There is considerable interest in identifying factors that predict outcome from psychological treatment. This review examines the relationship between readiness / stage of change at entry to CBT treatment and treatment attendance or outcome in people with mental health problems other than addiction.

Four databases: PsycINFO; MEDLINE; Embase and CINAHL were searched to identify relevant studies published in English from 1st January 1980 onwards. Following title and abstract screening, and full text review of potentially eligible studies, a total of 22 eligible studies were identified, of which 21 were included in the narrative synthesis. The review was registered on PROSPERO REF: CRD42020209173.

Nineteen studies explored the relationship between readiness and symptom outcome, with a majority (n = 13) identifying at least one statistically significant relationship between variables, either directly or in interaction with another measure. A number of these also tested other associations which were non-significant. In contrast, five studies explored the association between readiness and treatment attendance, and findings were inconclusive.

The systematic review found some evidence suggesting that readiness is linked to symptom outcome in CBT, regardless of the type of clinical problem or readiness measure used. The studies adopting an RCT design identified no evidence of differences in the relationship between readiness and outcome when comparing CBT to other psychotherapeutic interventions. Study quality was variable, and a range of methodological limitations and potential avenues for future work are discussed.